WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 639: The Path of Ascension (1)
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「User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 355
Current Location: Seoraksan, Sokcho, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province
Sage’s Advice: 3」
- Han Ga-in
Exactly one hundred days had passed since I returned to reality from the Moon.
I was hiking Seoraksan with Jin-cheol and Seung-yeop.
“Whew...”
I steadied my slightly labored breathing from the climb, and Jin-cheol spoke.
“Don't tell me you're tired?”
“It's not that bad.”
“Hah...”
“Why?”
“Seoraksan is enough to tire you out?”
For a moment, I was dumbfounded.
Wasn't Seoraksan one of the more rugged mountains in Korea?
It wasn't as though I'd collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Wasn't it normal for a person to breathe a little harder after hiking?
Perhaps he read something in my expression. Jin-cheol, who had been walking beside me as if he were taking a stroll, shook his head.
“I'm not teasing you. It's just strange. If you're a superhuman who can fly through the sky faster than a plane, I feel like you should be able to climb even Everest as easily as the hill behind your house.”
“...”
I understood the feeling, but it wasn't logical.
No matter how incredible the Sacred Sun and the Grimoire were, I hadn't summoned either Inheritance right then.
“It really hits me again. Our abilities seem unbalanced somehow.”
“What?”
The conversation had started out of nowhere.
“I don't sweat a single drop from a hike like this.”
“That does seem true.”
“On the other hand, you seem closer to an angel or a demigod than a person, yet...”
“... An angel?”
“... You still start sweating and get short of breath as soon as you move without using an Inheritance. Like a normal person.”
“Because I am one.”
“Do you really think so?”
“...”
After we walked a few more steps, Jin-cheol spoke again.
“Unlike you, I'm still lacking a lot in the mental department.”
The mental department?
From the context, he didn't mean ordinary things like patience or willpower. He seemed to mean an ability that could withstand magical power crushing the mind.
“Your blessing and Inheritance don't help much with that, do they?”
“But I need that kind of growth.”
“To reach the ‘ultimate realm’ you experienced on the Moon?”
“That's right.”
Jin-cheol needed something more to reach that ultimate realm again.
Then Seung-yeop, who had been darting around nearby, spoke up.
“Couldn't you just put it back in your head again?”
“What?”
“Trust Regeneration, make another hole in your head, and...”
“...”
After another brief silence, Jin-cheol let out a long sigh.
“Isn't that a little too easy to say when it's not your head?”
“Ah! But you said it last time. That you lacked the courage to take risks!”
“Hey! Is it courage to drill a hole in your skull and stick a Star Fragment inside when we don't even have Dream?”
Wouldn't that be less courageous and more stupid?
Or not?
Since it was coming from the owner of Luck, maybe it was part of some grand plan.
What if you could just quietly shove a Star Fragment into Jin-cheol's head and something happened?
Should I start by drilling a hole in Jin-cheol's head first?
If he couldn't make up his mind, I could use a laser on his skull...
“Okay, okay, everyone quiet.”
The more I thought about it, the less this seemed right.
I always felt this way, but this was Seung-yeop's problem.
He constantly said bizarre things. Most of it was meaningless bullshit, but sometimes he suddenly guessed the right answer.
Looking back, I'd think, Wow, Seung-yeop got that right too? As expected of Luck!
But when I heard the nonsense in the moment, there was no way to tell whether it was a grand plan or just nonsense.
What if we trusted Seung-yeop, cracked Jin-cheol's head open, shoved in a Star Fragment, and he died?
“Especially you, Seung-yeop. Stop confusing us and keep your mouth shut for a bit.”
“... Okay.”
“So this is what you mean. You need something more to reach the ultimate realm again.”
“That's right. And that something will surely be in the Hotel.”
“...”
“Is that enough of an answer to what you asked this morning?”
“What did Ga-in ask?”
“He asked whether I planned to go to the third floor.”
“...”
“I am going. No matter what. Right now, I'm just waiting for the others to make their decisions.”
As Seung-yeop silently lowered his head, something glimmered on the ground.
“... Again? They're like stalkers.”
It was a familiar letter. Far too familiar.
“To our beloved customers, we are pleased to bring happy news. At long last...”
“Seung-yeop, don't read it. I've read it over a hundred times, so I know it by heart.”
It was the Hotel's letter announcing that the third floor was ready.
Anything involving the word “Hotel” tended to ignore common sense, and the letter was no exception.
I clearly put it in my pocket, but it suddenly appears on my desk. I leave it at home, but it shows up in front of Seung-yeop like this.
It was as though it wanted to make sure we never forgot the words “third floor.”
“Seung-yeop.”
“Yes?”
“What are you planning to do?”
“...”
“No one's going to blame you, so tell us honestly.”
“... If I suddenly disappeared.”
“If you disappeared?”
“Wouldn't my parents worry?”
“Yeah. They would.”
It seemed he didn't want to go to the third floor, if only because of his parents in reality.
I could understand that completely.
Seung-yeop lowered his head slightly, as if apologetic, then walked ahead. Jin-cheol muttered beside me.
“The others are probably similar.”
“...”
“People like Seung-yeop, who have built families, will be afraid of going to the third floor.”
“Probably.”
“If you think about it, aren't you and I the unusual ones?”
“Are we?”
“Unless you have a clear reason to ascend to the third floor, hesitation is the normal response.”
A clear reason to ascend to the third floor...
Aedia had asked me something similar.
I could still remember her voice asking, “Why do you want to go to the third floor so badly?”
Was Aedia doing well?
Without thinking, I looked up at the Moon, which still had a pale presence despite the bright daylight.
Then...
Insight, manifesting for the first time in a while, showed me a possibility involving Seung-yeop.
“...?”
A figure trembling in fear of something?
* * *
「Date: Day 355 -> Day 357」
I met Mi-ro, A-ri, and Song-i at a coffee shop near Yeouido.
There looked to be at least thirty customers inside, but A-ri immediately took out a Management Bureau-issued phone.
“The world's recovered fast. A few months ago, people were saying the Earth might end, and now there aren't even any seats in a coffee shop?”
As she operated the phone, a faint power of hypnosis spread through the room.
In less than three minutes, we were the only ones left in the coffee shop. I felt a little guilty about the inconvenience, but at the same time, I was relieved.
Song-i teased her.
“Wow! At this point, shouldn't you be a Containment target, A-ri?”
“Why?”
“Isn't it the Management Bureau's duty to protect civilians' happy daily lives?”
“Everyone's gotten too relaxed. Waking them up with a little tension is part of my job too.”
“Isn't that just interfering with business? What a huge nuisance!”
“The Empire High idol is the biggest nuisance of all time.”
“Aaah! A-ri, seriously!”
While Song-i blushed and grabbed A-ri's shoulders to shake her, Mi-ro sat across from me with a completely serious expression.
“I've made up my mind.”
“...”
It was one thing for A-ri to look serious. Seeing Mi-ro with that expression felt completely out of place.
“What decision?”
“You asked me over the phone last week!”
“Oh, I did?”
“Don't joke around! I've been thinking about it all week. You asked whether I'd go to the, the third floor!”
The moment she said “third floor,” something fell from the ceiling.
“Eek?”
“To our beloved customers, we are pleased to bring happy news...”
Before she could read even one sentence, A-ri put the letter away.
“Are they actually stalkers?”
“Let's hear Mi-ro out.”
The three of us naturally turned our attention to her.
Mi-ro turned her eyes aside slightly, as though embarrassed, and answered.
“I talked to my inner self for a long time.”
“You mean Ghost Story Mi-ro?”
Ghost Story Mi-ro, twisted and worn down by the Hell of Eternity she endured on the Moon.
She still wasn't normal, but she seemed able to communicate with Young Mi-ro at least a little.
“I tried to understand what that poor girl had been thinking all this time...”
True to her emotionally sensitive age, Mi-ro's eyes even began to well up.
The rest of us reacted very differently. Song-i and I, even A-ri, all wore awkward expressions.
“... Poor girl?”
“A-ri, you don't know anything about Mi-ro!”
“...”
“My past self... What she thought as she watched the Chaos of the world...”
“...”
A-ri only moved her lips as if it were difficult to hold back, but true to how indulgent she was with Mi-ro, she eventually kept quiet.
“This world is full of whirlpools of evil, and the Moon is only the tip of the iceberg. Even now, someone in the darkness is sowing evil seeds we cannot yet understand...”
Wow, hearing Mi-ro say that was incredibly awkward.
As if it had been waiting, faintly glowing words appeared on the table.
「Ga-in, is that really Mi-ro?」
“... What you're saying is that reality is still full of Chaos Disasters even after the Moon disappeared, right?”
“Yeah!”
“Then are you planning to stay in reality rather than go to the third floor?”
I thought she meant she would stay in reality to solve the Chaos there.
She didn't.
“No? I'm going to the third floor.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
A-ri and I both tilted our heads.
“You worked so hard to talk about evil forces in the darkness. Shouldn't you stay here if you want to take them down?”
“Corruption is like mushrooms that grow endlessly in the shadows. No matter how much exposed Corruption is burned away, it will never end...”
“You're just reciting what Ghost Story Mi-ro said, aren't you?”
“... We have to remove the cause of Corruption. We have to remove the mycelium that creates the mushrooms. That path is not in our hands...”
“Did Ghost Story Mi-ro tell you to go to the third floor?”
“Stop interrupting me!”
Mi-ro was in the middle of saying what she thought were cool lines, so she seemed upset that A-ri kept interrupting.
Still, Mi-ro's point was easy enough to understand.
A world full of Chaos.
The Moon had only been the greatest threat, not the whole of it.
Just as the Pillagers had kept quiet to hide from the Moon, there would be no shortage of other forces comparable to them.
Some might sow the seeds of another End Times event.
Some might worship an unknown ancient Evil God.
A battle that would never end if we took them down one at a time.
Where was the fundamental solution?
Ghost Story Mi-ro said we needed to gain something more from the Hotel.
Why?
“How could there be devils in Heaven?”
“Hmm...”
“... Those were the last words my past self said. After that, she went back to sleep.”
Because Buddha seeks to create Heaven, and there could be no devils in Heaven.
It was vague, but it did sound plausible.
Then A-ri muttered, sounding surprised.
“I never expected you, of all people, to say something like that, Mi-ro.”
“Ah! You're trying to make fun of me again...”
“I'm not. It just made me think something.”
“What?”
“The you now and the Mi-ro from the Management Bureau... You really are the same person.”
“...”
I felt it again too.
Because of the difference in the time she had lived and her experiences, Mi-ro often felt like an immature, cute girl. But Ghost Story Mi-ro was one possible future for her.
Wasn't Ghost Story Mi-ro the one who had leaped into the Hotel because she could not stand by and watch the forces of Chaos rule humanity?
Then Song-i spoke teasingly.
“Aren't you just going because Ga-in said he's going?”
“W-what!”
“If he decided to stay in reality, maybe Mi-ro would stay too?”
As Mi-ro's face reddened, A-ri took her side.
“If you're planning to stay in reality, go study for the College Scholastic Ability Test.”
“Yeah, I'm not going to college!”
“Not studying and not taking the College Scholastic Ability Test. Is this what high school students are like these days? This country is really doomed.”
“If the country's doomed, it isn't because I don't study. It's because The Silent are slacking off instead of working in the middle of a weekday.”
“I've been sidelined from my duties lately.”
A serious statement suddenly slipped into the middle of our nonsense.
“What?”
“The other members of The Silent have been quietly pushing me out.”
“...”
“Recently, Dominion even told me this. ‘Send the other mysterious Wisdom to the third floor.’”
The other mysterious Wisdom...
“It looks like the Management Bureau lost information about you again.”
“They've lost the specific information, but their analysis has made them aware of the great evil behind the Hotel Party, so they warned me.”
“Great evil? Are they talking about Ga-in?”
“Heh! What a joke.”
“I'm not joking.”
I laughed lightly at A-ri's silly joke.
From the Management Bureau's perspective, weren't we Chaos Entities powerful enough to be burdensome?
Still, we planned to go when the time came. Dominion sure was...
Suddenly, I wanted to cause a scene before leaving reality.
Hah, should I give them a taste of Aleph-style brutality?
Aleph seemed to have ruined the world around 3,000 times. Would one more ruined world, taking it from 3,000 to 3,001, make any difference?
“I feel like there was an unspoken part too. If possible, A-ri, you should go too.”
“...”
“Looks like I'm a burden to them.”
Song-i asked, sounding dumbfounded.
“Former Participants have been around for ages. Why are they so sensitive about it? They used to be Participants themselves!”
A-ri stretched a hand toward the window and pointed at the pale presence outside.
“Look at that.”
“...”
“The Management Bureau isn't stupid. They know full well that the Moon is effectively a Management Bureau above the Management Bureau, practically a god descended into reality.”
“...”
“We're basically Aedia's companions. If we wanted to contact the Moon even now, we could.”
“That's true.”
“That's why they're wary.”
“They think of us as Servants of an Outer God?”
“Something like that. They can't kill us either, so it feels like they're asking us to please leave for the third floor on our own.”
Mi-ro's eyes lit up as she asked A-ri.
“Then will you go? Will you?”
After a brief silence, A-ri answered calmly.
“Mi-ro, I won't leave you. You know that, right?”
“Yay!”
It was the kind of answer that meant she would stay if Mi-ro stayed in reality, and ascend with her if she went to the third floor.
Then a thought came to me.
That answer was only a smokescreen to hide her real reason.
It felt like A-ri had another purpose for going to the third floor.
Not some grand cause like Mi-ro's, but something more personal.
Something she couldn't reveal to others.
“...”
Was that just intuition? Or the power of Insight?
It was becoming harder for even me to tell them apart.
“What do you think, Song-i?”
“The third floor?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I've been thinking. There were other parties before us that earned the right to Ascension, right?”
“That's right.”
“Not everyone who earned that right would have chosen the third floor. There must have been plenty of people who wanted to stay in reality and live well.”
“Probably.”
“In many cases, only a small number of people would go to the third floor...”
“...”
“Can people even progress through the third floor like that?”
“Good question.”
I had wondered about that too.
“I think the third floor will be very different from the first and second floors.”
“It probably will.”
“Ga-in! Don't you have anything to say other than ‘yeah,’ ‘good question,’ and ‘it probably will’? At this point, you should talk like a sage who has mastered all things!”
“What?”
A sage who had mastered all things, out of nowhere?
As I tilted my head, A-ri imitated my voice.
“Is that so... Is that what it is? The third floor... There are countless secrets there that you do not know... Have you understood that much? Your guess? I cannot say it is correct, nor can I say it is wrong...”
“...”
“I told you to look at the Moon, yet you can see only the finger... Your eyes are fine, yet you are no different from a blind person. The great principle...”
“Hey, hey! When have I ever talked like that?”
“Wasn't it similar?”
“Completely similar!”
“That's just Han Ga-in!”
As Mi-ro and Song-i enthusiastically joined in, I was the only one left feeling awkward.
It seemed that, after gaining Insight, I had caused my companions a little stress.
“Sorry, but I really don't know anything this time.”
Even Insight could not tell me what kind of place the third floor was while I sat in a coffee shop.
Besides, I didn't think the Hotel would allow Insight into the third floor in the first place.
“Song-i, this is important, so answer honestly. Do you plan to go to the third floor?”
Song-i answered calmly.
“The third floor would be fine, and staying in reality would be fine too.”
“What do you...”
“Whatever we do, I want us to do it together. Without splitting up.”
“...”
I had heard the opinions of all five people.
* * *
--- Bzzz! Bzzz!
Late at night, my phone rang loudly.
When I answered it, I heard an unexpected voice.
- Have you been well?
“... I didn't expect you to call. It's been a long time.”
- It has.
“How have you been... No, more importantly, you remember me?”
- Why would I forget?
“You aren't an Ark right now, are you?”
Because of the Empty Wish I made using Dream in reality, anyone other than my companions could not remember me.
The effect was exceptionally powerful. Not only the Management Bureau but even other Participants like Ryan could not remember me.
- I may not be an Ark, but I am a companion.
“...”
- Those were your own words.
That was true.
I had called Elder Wisdom a companion myself.
It seemed that since then, Dream had judged Elder Wisdom to be my companion too and did not erase Elder Wisdom's memories.
It was something I had caused, and I did think of Elder Wisdom as close to a companion...
Still, I could not help feeling a subtle tension.
“What is it?”
- Good news. I also wanted to thank you.
“What?”
- The School has appeared.
Footnotes:
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